Sixteen Staves
by Sara Jaye
Summary: A series of 16 Serra/Priscilla ficlets, both friendshippy and romantic.
1. Burning Shrubs and Riverside Conversatio

"Burning Shrubs and Riverside Conversations"

Written for yet another LJ fic challenge (how many of these do I have? LOL), 16candlesfic.

* * *

It was another ordinary day for Eliwood's army, and Serra was brushing her hair and admiring her reflection in the stream.

"Ah, those poor men will hardly be able to keep their eyes off me today," she snickered to herself as she tied her hair into its usual bouncy pigtails. She loved to imagine being surrounded by admirers, blushing like a schoolgirl as she tried to pick the person she loved the most. They'd shower her with gifts, make her head spin with compliments, fight each other over who loved her the most...

A sudden snap broke Serra's train of thought just then, and she turned around to see a nearby shrub on fire.

"Aiiee!" she yelped. "Bandits! I must warn the others, they'll be so grateful and Lord Hector will-"

"Serra?!"

Recognizing the voice, Serra turned to her right. Priscilla stood next to the burning shrub, Fire tome in her hand and a sheepish look on her face.

"Of all people! I never expected someone like _you_ to be a pyromaniac!" Serra gasped, half-kidding. Priscilla laughed nervously.

"I'm not. I was practicing casting anima spells and..." She shuffled her feet. "I went a little overboard."

"A little?! You're lucky it was only a shrub!" Serra grabbed a nearby bucket, dipped it into the stream, and flung the contents at the blaze. "There. Next time, maybe you should practice casting fire spells while it's raining," she grumbled.

"I'm really sorry," Priscilla said. "Did I frighten you?"

"If by frighten you mean scared half to death, then yes," Serra said. "I thought you were a bandit! I was about to tell the others we were under attack!"

"Then it's a good thing I spoke up when I did." Priscilla smiled wryly. "Once again, I'm very sorry I scared you."

_You should be,_ Serra wanted to retort, but Priscilla's smile made her forget about being annoyed. "It's okay. I'm sorry I almost got the entire army over there to fight without realizing it was you," she said, half-kidding. Priscilla paled.

"Would you really have done that?" she asked nervously. Serra didn't know whether to laugh at the troubadour's inability to detect humor, or feel bad for sounding so serious.

"Oh, of course not!" she said. "Well, no more than Lord Eliwood...since he would've told me whether or not there was a need to fight, of course!" she added quickly. Priscilla smiled, relieved.

"Good." Her gaze drifted to the Lightning tome at Serra's side. "I see you're just learning to use magic, too?"

"Yeah, Lucius has been helping me out for a while," Serra said.

"Erk's been helping me, but I'm thinking of giving him the day off so he can relax. He does tend to overwork himself," Priscilla said. Serra almost went off on a rant about her own experiences with Erk's obsessive study habits, but thought better of it. _Weird, I've never had any qualms about that before..._

"Hey, maybe we can practice together tonight," Priscilla suggested. Serra blinked.

"Eh?"

"Well, I overheard Raven and Lucius planning to spend some time together tonight," Priscilla said, trying to fight back a pang of jealousy at the thought. "And since I'm giving Erk the night off, I thought we could work together and show each other what we learned."

To her horror, Serra found herself blushing at the offer. She'd always treated Priscilla as a rival for Erk's attentions and the army's "main" healer, but this was the first time they'd ever actually _talked _despite having shared a tent for several months. And Priscilla was hardly the tempestuous redheaded Jezebel Serra's mind often made her out to be.

_I've had it wrong all this time,_ she thought, both relieved that Priscilla wasn't truly a threat, and horrified that...well, she'd been_ wrong._

"Sure, why not?" she finally said.

"Great! Meet me at our tent after dinner tonight," Priscilla said. "Thank you, Serra. You know, I'm glad we talked. I've been sharing a tent with you for so long and I feel like we hardly know each other. Maybe tonight we can work on that, as well."

"Yeah...that'd be great!" Serra laughed nervously. "See you then!"

Priscilla went back to camp, and Serra ran back to the river to splash her face with cold water. What had just come over her?! "The last thing I need is another crush, and on a girl no less," she muttered.

As soon as the words left her mouth, her stomach tied in a knot.

"Wait a minute! I'm not...I've never even _entertained _the thought of...!"

She buried her head in her hands.

_Great. Just what I needed._

This was going to be a long day.


	2. Sparks

There was an instant spark between them when they first met. At least Serra thought so. Erk _said_ he couldn't stand her, but after he got to know her, he'd grow to love her like everyone else did.

The spark never flourished.

Erk met Priscilla a year later, and the spark between them was noticeable. Everyone said they made a very cute couple, they were so perfect together.

Serra was jealous. She blamed Priscilla for taking "her" Erk away, putting him under her spell. She kept promising herself she'd break them up and take back what was hers.

She never did. The spark between Erk and Priscilla never flourished, either. The night she told him she might be in love with him, he broke her heart.

"I must apologize for having led you on, if I did," he said, "but I cannot pursue a romantic relationship. My studies must remain the main focus of my life."

"I understand," Priscilla said. That night, she cried herself to sleep.

She met Serra the next morning. Serra was about to confront her, but the tear stains on Priscilla's face stopped her in her tracks.

"He dumped you, huh?"

"There never was anything between us, Serra. Erk is a wonderful person, but he is, and probably always will be, romantically challenged."

Now Serra was angry. At least he'd been honest when he'd rejected _her,_ but he'd always been so sweetly devoted to Priscilla.

"He lied to you! I'm going to give that jerk a piece of my mind!"

Priscilla shook her head, sniffling.

"No. It was my own fault for being silly enough to think anything would happen. Employers aren't supposed to fall in love with their employees," she said.

Serra sighed. She'd blamed Priscilla for nothing, she knew she couldn't blame Erk, she certainly wasn't going to blame herself...

_There's no one to blame. I hate it when that happens!_

Without a word, she put her arms around Priscilla and let her cry.

Weeks later, a spark began to form between them.

This time, it bloomed.

* * *

Much as I love Erk, there's no denying the kid has issues. Obviously he can overcome them to a degree (three wife choices), but it's also entirely possible he never will (his single ending). Poor guy. :(


	3. Firelight

"Serra?"

"What is it?"

"I'm really sorry I got us lost."

The cleric sighed, scooting closer to the fire to warm her toes.

"You already said that, and I already told you it's not _your_ fault." A pause. "Merlinus is the one who gave us a bad map, it's his fault!" she added quickly.

Priscilla stifled a laugh. Serra had mellowed out a bit over the past few months, but she still had her unpleasant habits. Ducking out of accepting blame was one of them, and it was hard to tell whether she was trying to break it or not.

"We'll let him know he gave us the wrong one when we get back to the others,"

Serra smiled sheepishly.

"Then again, maybe I should've checked it before we left," she muttered. "Sorry about that."

Priscilla smiled.

"Even the best of us forget things sometimes," she said, draping a blanket over the two of them. Serra gratefully pulled closer, leaning her head against Priscilla's shoulder and closing her eyes.

As Serra slept, Priscilla remained awake, keeping an eye on the fire and occasionally studying Serra's face.

_She shines brightly every day, but in the light of the fire she's radiant._


End file.
